[Nano novel] Chapter thirteen: Ava, alone.

The morning came slowly for Ava, as she had cried herself to sleep the night before, wiping her tear-filled eyes on the lacy, rather useless hand-made handkerchiefs that Greta had given her the day before.  Her eyelids felt swollen and heavy, and when she began to open her eyes, she discovered that she had quite a bad headache as well.

She sat up, not very carefully, and her head immediately began to pound painfully at the temples.  "Ow," she wailed, which also hurt her head.

Greta pushed the door open then, and instead of her usual jug of hot water, she had a basin of cold water and several extra washcloths, which she proceeded to soak in the water.  "You lie back down now, miss," she said in a mildly scolding voice.  "I will take care of you today, anything you need.  Now lie back, and I will put these on your head, there you go."

Ava lay there with cool cloths over eyes, wishing she had brought pain reliever with her when she stupidly stumbled into that damned rainbow.  She was thoroughly upset and disgusted at the entire ordeal.  All day yesterday had been completely awful, beginning from the time she got out of bed.  At least the day before, she had been mostly drugged up while waiting for her ankle o heal, and she had not even been informed that Taliesin was gone until that evening, when she asked after him.  Just thinking about it made her head hurt even worse, so she tried her best to leave it alone; but her mind would not stop hashing through the events, over and over again.

"Now then, miss, don't think about things that make you upset.  Just relax.  I will bring you some breakfast and coffee, but I do not want to see you up when I get back with your food, do you hear?"

Greta's motherly tone was almost laughable, since she was either Ava's age or a little bit younger; but under the circumstances it felt very welcome.  Someone to mother her, who was not also being cruel and demanding.

"Okay," she said in as quiet a voice as she could muster.  Greta left quietly, apparently satisfied with Ava's answer. 

This is going to be another craptastic day, thought Ava miserably.  I can't believe he didn't take me along.  I can't believe him!  And I can't believe he didn't even wait until I was awake so I would know what was going on!  Hot tears seeped out from under the cloth covering her eyes, and the pounding in her temples started to get worse again.  Feeling sorry for herself was not something she normally did, at least not for very long at a time; but she was stuck in a world not her own, without having a thing she could do to help or change her situation, and the one person she had allowed herself to get close to had left without her on some stupid quest.  She felt entitled to some angry tears and some bitter thoughts, at least for a while.  Of course, she had already sulked and pouted and thrown verbal fits nearly all of yesterday, so maybe it ought to be time to stop soon.

She took a deep breath, intending to begin calming down, but then a vision of Taliesin's dark eyes popped into her mind's eye, and she was simultaneously lonely and angry once again.  More tears dripped off her face and onto the linen sheets.

The door was pushed open again, and she heard the sound of clinking dishes.  She sniffed, and wiped her face, trying to disguise the fact that she had been thinking about it, even after Greta had told her not to.

"Now, young miss, let's get some breakfast into you, I think it should do you some good," Greta said cheerfully.  She removed the cloth from Ava's eyes, and helped her sit up slowly.  "Sit over here in this chair by the window, and I'll draw the curtain most of the way so the light doesn't bother you.

"Here is coffee and toast, and some fruit.  Nothing heavy, mind you, because that won't be good for your head.  If you don't feel better after eating, I will have the King's Magician prepare you a medicine."

Ava stopped her slightly limping walk to the chair at the mention of the 'King's Magician'.  "You mean Tristan?"  she asked, her voice almost dripping with sarcasm and barely repressed anger.  "Don't bother."

"Now, miss!  You have to let go of that for now, or you will not get to feeling better at all.  Now sit, there you are, and eat something.  I will come back soon and see how you are doing."

She left again, taking the basin and used washcloth with her.  Ava sat, still angry, next to the tray of food.  Her chest rose and fell quickly, because the feelings of anger were causing her adrenaline to rush, and speed up her breathing.  Calm DOWN, she ordered herself.  Eat something.  Don't think about it, just eat something.  Deal with it later.

She forced herself to clear her mind of what bothered her, to find that place within herself that she always had to find when she was growing up in her mother's house.  After a few minutes, she felt calm and collected enough to actually taste the coffee that smelled so very good. 

Her headache began to recede somewhat as she sipped the strong brew, and she did her best to remain free of any thoughts whatsoever except for the taste of the fruit and the hotness of the coffee.  She looked through the space Greta had left between the curtains, out into the city that could be seen beyond the walls of the castle.  There was some movement, although she could not make out exactly what or who it might be, but she surmised that the city was merely doing its morning routine, whatever that might be.

Which gave her a great idea - what better way to stop thinking about that darned Taliesin and that stuck-up magician than to go out and mingle with other people?  She was sure that nobody would really mind her being out there, and in fact she probably would not be noticed.  She could walk around, close to the castle in case her ankle started hurting again, and get fresh air and a relative change of scenery.

Having a game plan gave her renewed energy, and she ate the rest of the fruit quickly, swallowing the coffee as fast as she could.  Greta came back into the room just as she was getting up from her chair and wondering what she might find in the closet to wear for walking outside. 

"All done, then?" she said in an approving voice.  "There are new things in your wardrobe, young miss Ava.  Will you be needing help getting into anything?"

"No, I think I can manage my bum ankle today, thank you," Ava laughed.  "You're very kind to me, Greta.  I don't deserve it."

"Of course you do, miss!  We all deserve kindness.  Now I'll be going, but you know where to find me if you need me," and she collected the tray and dishes and left the room again.

Ava smiled, warm in the knowledge that she had at least one friend here in this foreign world.  She opened the wardrobe, and gasped with delight as she saw that there was now a lovely green dress with a very full skirt hanging up.  It was a perfect shade of green to contrast her hair and skin, and it was actually her very favorite color.  Tears sprang to her eyes, because she knew that part of Greta's job was to find out what she liked and wanted and to provide that.  What a wonderfully generous person she must be.  More generous than I, she thought. 

She got dressed quickly, happy that she had a plan for something to do.  She put on a long pair of silky stockings also, even though she was going to be walking outside, because she loved the way they felt on her skin.  She pulled on the soft leather boots again, as she had been doing every morning since she had first woken up here, three days ago.  A woven cape of naturally ivory wool, trimmed in brown velvet, completed her outfit for the day.  Looking around her room one last time before leaving it, she noticed that she had been given a leather-bound journal and a pencil, lying on a low table by the door.  She scooped them up, thinking that she could journal in them, or maybe attempt to draw something.  With that, she left the room, shutting the heavy door behind her. 

Halfway down the hall, she pushed open a door that she had learned led to a very long hallway that led almost the entire length of the castle.  It intersected a north-south hall, which she took to the front of the castle, to the large staircase that was almost a direct copy of the one at the back; or maybe that was the other way around.  Or maybe they were both designed to be the same.

Once down the stairs, she pushed open the door at the bottom and stood for a moment on the front steps of the castle.  The front steps were, by themselves, almost as tall as the staircase she had just walked down; there were grand columns and colored paving stones decorating the porch itself, which was more like a very wide room with no walls, it was so very large.

The morning air was cool but not cold, and the sun was already warming some of the paving she was standing on.  Below her, in the square before the castle itself, there were only a few people and animals moving about.  It looked as if it was kept extremely clean, because she could not see any footprints or stray bits of straw or piles of dung anywhere.  She wondered if there was an official pavement sweeper who worked only here in the front of Castle Agria.

She decided it was time to walk down there and see what lay beyond the castle itself, since she had been nearly asleep on her first time in it.  She got down the stairs without incident, although she worried for a little while that her skirt would get caught under a boot and she would tumble down, bruising herself and most likely making a total fool of herself.  She always imagined herself accidentally doing awkward things like that, although she was not sure why.

Once down the stairs, without incident, she studied more closely the pattern of the paving stones in the square she was standing on now.  The pattern itself was quite large, and she decided she would have to look at it again from the top of the stairs, because all she could really make out now was that it looked a lot like a Celtic type of knot design. 

She twirled around a few times, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on her face and the light breeze across her skin, and her skirt fluttered out in a very satisfying way.  She loved to wear skirts, but usually she could not find the ones that were so extravagantly full.  This dress might end up being a favorite of hers.

Suddenly feeling foolish and narcissistic, she stopped twirling and set off toward the heart of the city.

It occurred to her, as she passed several merchants who smiled and nodded at her, that she did not even know the name of the city she was in.  She laughed aloud, finding her own ignorance hilarious.  Everyone around her must have thought the she already knew where she was, so nobody had said a word to her about it.  Tristan had been mostly closeted in his Great Library or wherever else he squirreled his disagreeable self away (the thought of him made her instantly frustrated, but she pushed that reaction away quickly), so he had not told her anything much apart from the wealth of information he had deigned to gift them with on that first morning after breakfast.  Wow, I am really bitter.  Get a grip, Ava!  Stop being such a whiner!

She continued to wander through the streets, smiling at men, women, children, and babies indiscriminately.  She wondered if they knew who she was, and if they knew anything about rainbows.  She wondered if she was an oddity, or if here presence here was nothing more than a tiny rain drop in a large ocean.  Every few yards or so, she saw palace guards, dressed in green and silver livery just like the two who had met them at the gate, but they all seemed very relaxed.  Her sense of this place, so far, was that everyone was content.  Content to be here, content to be doing whatever it was they always did, and content to keep doing it for the foreseeable future.  Their peace and obvious easy happiness was infectious, and her mood lightened considerably as each moment passed.

Some of the merchants had fruits and vegetables, and some had cuts of meat hanging of fish laid out on tables, ready for taking home and cooking up.  Some of the stalls were full of pots and pans, or jewelry, or tiny bottles that looked like they were full of many colored spices.  None of the merchants yelled out to her, although some of them were hawking their wares to the other people, mostly women with bags who were obviously out shopping.  That fact alone made her assume that they did know who she was.  Well, if that was the case, then maybe someone would be willing to talk to her for a while, and maybe tell her what the story was about the city and the missing King.  Also, she was sure that even though she would be laughed at, someone had to be willing to tell here what city she was in to begin with.

She continued to wander, but now she looked at each person closely, to see if she could determine who might talk with her a while.  Nobody looked hurried, or upset, but they all did seem quite busy in what they were doing.  She was now nearly at the end of the merchant district, at least as far as she could tell.  Up ahead on this same street were wooden buildings with signs hanging down.  "Oh! Shops!" she said aloud, and smiled.  This city was like a real life version of all those silly tourist towns that everyone loved to visit when they had money to burn and nothing better to do but buy breakable trinkets and overpriced lunch.

She slowed her walking, so that she could better read the hanging signs.  Magical Curatives, read one.  Dress Like Royalty, read another.  The sign over a two-story narrow building caught her eye.  It said merely Books.  A book store anywhere would always catch her attention, so she slipped in through the open doorway, eager to see what sorts of reading material a medieval type city would have.

Inside, it was lit only by sunlight that filtered in through the tall front windows.  Dust motes danced in the light, and it smelled a little musty.  Just like books ought to smell, she thought happily. 

"May I help you, miss?"  asked a young curly-haired man, who was wearing a dingy apron that might have once been white, but now so smudged and stained that Ava was certain that Greta would not even bother to wash it out if given the opportunity, but would throw it away without a moment's hesitation.

"Oh, no, I'm just browsing," Ava replied automatically, then giggled aloud at her rote response.  That was what she would usually always say in any book store in her own world - but this was a completely new place, and it called for all new responses.  "I'm sorry, no, I mean... what kind of history books do you have?"

"Over here, in this section.  World history, of course, and also local history.  We have a very large selection," he said earnestly.  "Please let me know if I can help you in any way."

"Thank you!" said Ava, eagerly scanning the titles.  The helpful shopkeeper left her alone to enjoy the stacks.  The titles were not all that exciting, but one caught her eye: History of Adrostu.  Her heart beat a little faster - was this the name of the world she was in?  She pulled it off its shelf.  It was very heavy, and she had to sit down to properly open it and look through the pages.  There was no stool, so she just sat on the dusty floor in her dress, hoping that it wouldn't put too deep a layer of dirt into it.  She would feel badly if she made a lot of extra work for Greta.

Inside the front cover, there was a short handwritten poem.

Pain and sorrow everlasting
Decreed by gods
Who dwell apart from us
Joy and hope eternal
Decided by men
Who dwell on this earth

It was unsigned, and there was no date, even though she would have no way of understanding the calendar yet, since she had not seen one or had it explained to her.  She turned a few pages, and read the first few lines of the beginning chapter:

"In the beginning before the world was made, the gods fought a war, and the four strongest: Deia, Naia, Treiu, and Crui, divided the universes and all stellar dimensions among themselves.  Being still at war with one another, they caused a rift between all worlds and all dimensions.  The Creator God, He whose Name is Most Holy, was displeased with the four lesser gods, yet was unwilling to destroy the universes that had been made.  Instead He, the One God Who created all gods, all dimensions, all stars, all worlds, made a thing of living light to tie the dimensions together in harmony.  Named by men, it is the rainbow that keeps the worlds together.  Foolish is the man who seeks out the rainbow to control it, for he is setting himself up as a god, and displeasure and doom will be his reward..."

Ava was fascinated, and a little horrified.  Was this a true account, or a lovely mythology?  If it was mythology, why would it be the first thing written in the history of this world?

She closed the book, not sure if she was ready to read something that deep, and looked for other books that might be easier to understand for an outsider.  She pulled out a half dozen more books, and paged slowly through each one, caressing embossed pictures or looking in fascination at drawings of buildings, mountains, dragons, and people dressed in interesting outfits.  Every now and then something would catch her eye and she would read something, the description of a picture, or a short chapter with an interesting heading.

"Are you finding what you are looking for, miss?"  the shop keeper was back, and he startled her.  She hadn't realized how engrossed she was in the books she had.

"Oh!" she said in surprise, and nearly dropped the book she was holding.  "Yes, thank you, I think I found a lot to look at..."

"History interests you?"  he asked in a friendly manner.  His eyes, which were big, brown, and kind, twinkled when he talked.

"Well, I'm... new here, and I wanted to know something about this place," she gestured with her hand.  "This city, this world, I guess.  I just feel like I don't know anything, and I need knowledge."  She laughed at that, and he laughed too.

"You can ask me anything, and I will do my best to give you an answer," he offered.  "I'm not a history aficionado necessarily, but I love all these books."  He looked at the stacks almost affectionately. 

Ava smiled.  "You know what, I might take you up on that."  At that moment, her stomach growled so loudly that it startled them both, and she dissolved into giggles.

"Do you need a place to eat lunch?"  he asked with that twinkle in his eyes again, as she attempted to stop laughing.

"I suppose I can eat at the castle any time I want," she began, and his eyes grew very round and he took an involuntary step back.

"You are a guest at the castle?  I apologize, miss!  I had no idea!"

"You don't have to apologize," she said quizzically.  "What I was going to say was, I would love to eat somewhere else here in the city, because I love eating in local places.  But I don't have any money whatsoever, and I don't know that anyone would be willing to put it on my tab or anything like that."

"Miss, you are a royal guest.  Any establishment here will have no hesitation giving you anything you ask for."

"Oh," Ava said, at a loss for words.  She had no idea there was so much privilege attached to lodging in the castle.  She was not used to being treated like this, and even though she had started to get used to having a maid do things for her each day, there was still a lot of this kind of wealthy life that she was not sure how comfortable she felt about.

"May I escort you to lunch?  It would be my pleasure," he offered.  "I will take off this filthy shop apron, of course," he said, and Ava laughed.  He was obviously not so smitten with her apparent importance to be easy and natural, which she was happy about.

"I would love that!  But won't you have to close up the shop?"  She stood up from the floor, putting the books carefully back on their respective shelves, and brushed her skirt free of dust.

"It will not matter.  I don't get many customers anyway, and it will be an honor to accompany you."  He slipped off his dirty apron, hung it over the chair by the front table, and opened the front door for her.

She left the shop and stepped into the bright midday sun, and had to blink several times in order to keep back the sneeze that was lurking because of the sudden bright light.  He shut the door behind him, and it gave off a pleasant jingle; he must have a bell attached to it. 

"What's your name?" she asked, as he offered her his arm.

"Benjamin," he said.  "Most call me Ben."

"Ben it is, then," she said happily.  The warm sun and a friendly companion to walk with combined to lift her spirits even more.  For a moment, she completely forgot why she woke up angry and crying that morning.  "So, where are we going?"

"There is an inn that has the best food in the city.  I promise you will like it.  Cross my heart."  He smiled at her and they walked together down the paved road.

After they had been walking for several minutes, Ben stopped at the front door of a large building with a sign that read "Golden Dragon Inn" hanging over the door.  Ava laughed at the irony of it, and was still giggling a little after they had been seated in a booth in the corner of the large front room.  Ben ordered a mulled wine to drink, and discreetly informed their waitress that Ava was a castle guest.  Without batting an eye, the waitress brought out a large silver platter of h'ors doevres, heaped high and garnished with leafy greens, and a mulled wine for Ava also.  The food looked absolutely delicious to her, and she had to keep herself from cramming it into her face.

Instead, she put a few things on a small plate and ate them slowly.  She was not sure why it seemed important for her to appear ladylike and well-mannered, but it seemed like a natural thing to do.  Ben continued to make small talk while they ate, and she warmed to him more and more.  He was so friendly, and he seemed to know a lot of interesting details about the different places within the city, and about the city itself, and its people. 

“So did you grow up here?” asked Ava, munching on a huge salad, the second thing that had been brought out after the large platter of appetizers.

“I was born here in the city, yes,” said Ben.  He took a large drink of his mulled wine.  Ava had tasted hers, and found it to be delicious yet extremely strong, so she asked for a pitcher of water, and was drinking that instead.  “My mother married a man from the countryside, and when I was only two years old, he bought a farm on a homestead just a mile out from the city, to the east, and we lived there until I was old enough to apprentice with a family member here in the city.”

“So you didn’t want to stay at the farm and learn your father’s way of doing things?”  Ava could understand wanting to distance yourself from your parents, but she was not getting a bad feeling from Ben about his family.

“Well… I have always loved the city.  I love the people all living close together, the way everything smells and feels when it’s all being done at the same time.  I love the sounds and the way it all looks – there is some of the finest architecture in all of Adrostu here in this city.  And my uncle, my mother’s oldest brother, owned that book shop until he passed away last year.  I love books, I always have; and he wanted to take me on as his apprentice of sorts ever since I was old enough to read.”

“What do you mean, apprentice of sorts?”

“Bookselling isn’t technically a trade,” replied Ben with a grin.  He took another long drink of his wine.  “But I still went to stay with him when I was nine years old, the same as all the other boys who apprentice in the city, and I learned everything he knew about the kinds of books he had, where to get them, who has the best translations of different prophecies and histories and things like that… I’m sorry, I must be boring you to death.  We can talk about something else now if you prefer.”  He looked so apologetic that Ava had to laugh.

“Oh no!  It’s all very interesting.  And I’m not just saying that!”

“Actually… that was about it, really.  I’ve been here since I was nine, living in my uncle’s house, and now that he is gone, I’m the only one there.  Not that I’m lonely,” he added hastily, as Ava made a sad aww sound at him.  “I quite like living alone.  It’s easier for me, not to have to worry about what other people would rather do or what things they would rather put on the table or if they would like to eat what I’m eating.”

“So he left his house to you, and the book shop too?”

“Yes.  And I do miss him.  He’s only been gone a year… sometimes I forget he isn’t here.  He was such a part of the shop, he seemed like a permanent resident there, and for a while it was really upsetting for me to go in there every day and realize all over again that he wasn’t there.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Ava sympathetically.

Ben laughed, a little nervously.  “It must be the mulled wine, because I don’t usually say this much about myself when I’ve just met someone.  Again, I apologize.”

Ava laughed.  "See, now, that's why I decided to drink water," she teased.

Two huge portions of steak, juicy and steaming and complemented by freshly steamed vegetables and loaves of crusty, fluffy bread, arrived then, and interrupted their conversation for the time being. 

Ava ate through almost half of her steak, which was so tender that it fairly melted in her mouth, and then had to give up and push her plate back.  She groaned a little, and rubbed her stomach.  "I ate too much," she confessed.

Ben looked up from his own plate, which was nearly empty of steak.  Ava gaped.  "How on EARTH did you eat all that already?!"

"Oh, I have plenty of room," he grinned, and took another bite.

"Yuck," she said, and grimaced.  "I need to take a walk now.  I am way too full."

"As soon as I finish this, we can do just that," he said.

"Oh good, because I am so uncomfortable now.  I haven't eaten that much since... I can't remember the last time I ate so much.  And that steak was... wow."  She rubbed her stomach again, and tried not to think about how much food she had just consumed in one sitting.

Ben nearly wolfed down the remaining steak he had, then wiped his mouth on his napkin and slid out of the booth.  "Are you ready?"

Ava gaped at him again.  "I can't believe you are acting so... sprightly, after so much food!  How can you not be almost asleep by now?"

"Growing boy?"  He grinned.  "This steak is the best around, anywhere.  Whenever I get a chance to eat it, I always clean my plate."  He offered her his arm, and she slid out of her side of the booth, a little more awkwardly than she liked, due to the extreme fullness of her stomach, and took it.

"Lead on," she said.  "Only don't go too fast.  My stomach..."

Ben grinned again.  "Of course, my lady. Anything for you," and he made a mock bow. 

Ava laughed, then clutched her stomach.  "Ohhh. Don't make me laugh, that hurts worse!"

"Very well.  We will walk slowly, and I won't be funny any more, at least until you feel better."

"Agreed," she said, and they stepped outside the inn, and proceeded to continue down the road in the same direction they had been walking before.  She was glad of that, because she dearly wanted to keep exploring the city.

Each shop they walked past, Ben told her what the name of it was, and who owned it, and often would wave or exchange pleasantries with the shop owner if they were standing in the door way.  Several of them winked at her, which was a little embarrassing.  Soon, they had reached the square at the far end of the road, which was the first thing she had really seen when she had first come into the city.  The dragon pavement was mostly covered with people walking over it, but she could still see parts of it.

Her overly full stomach no longer felt as if it was about to explode, so she let go of Ben's arm and ran over to the pavement.  She stood at the edge of it, studying the sections she could see. 

"Do you like it?"  he asked.

"Oh yes!  This is the first thing I saw," she said.  "It looks just like my dragon," and then regretted blurting that out.  Ben's eyes grew very large, but in a different way than they had when he had found out where she was staying.  He took a step back from her.

"Your dragon?" he asked, and his tone of voice was wary.

"I only meant... he's not mine, of course not, but he did let me ride on him - "

"You rode on the Great Dragon!  What are you, a wood elf?  A fairy?  You cannot be human!"  He backed away even further, and Ava was beginning to have hurt feelings.

"Of course I'm human!" she shouted at him indignantly.  "Are you saying that nobody here rides your dragons?"

"They are not our dragons!  They belong to themselves, and we do not mingle with them, or ride on them.  They eat us!  We are their enemies!"  He was nearly shouting as well, and a small crowd of people had stopped what they were doing to listen and watch, and they were all casting glances at Ava that she was feeling more and more uncomfortable with.

"I..." Ava was at a loss for words.  How could she know that dragons were a taboo subject?  "Then why do you have a picture of one on the ground here inside your city?" she demanded angrily.

"It's been here since the city was built," Ben shot back.  He was obviously very upset, although Ava had no idea why.

"Look," she said.  "I came here through the rainbow, and I startled this dragon, and he didn't eat me, so I thought I was doing pretty well with that!"

"Why didn't he eat you?" asked Ben suspiciously.

"I have no idea!  I've only been here four days!  He let me ride him, and no, I don't know why, and he said that I would fulfill my promise to him later.  I don't even know what he meant by that.  You have to believe me - why would I lie to you?  What would I have to gain from that?"  Her feelings were getting even more hurt.  Ben had changed so suddenly, and become so suspicious.  Maybe it was her own fault, for believing that he was as nice as he seemed to be.

Ben stood at the edge of the dragon pavement, staring at her, looking as if he was trying to figure out whether or not he could trust her.  She was indignant that he would suddenly treat her this way.

"I'm going back to the castle now," she said, rather spitefully.  'Thank you for a nice lunch," and she began to walk away.  Tears stung her eyes, but she was determined to keep herself calm, at least outwardly, until she had gotten back to her room, and could either just collapse into a sobbing heap on the bed, or burden poor longsuffering Greta with her tale of woe.

Ben said nothing, and he did not follow her.  It broke her heart a little that her new friend would so quickly turn on her, and for something she was not even aware was an unacceptable thing to say or to talk about.  One tear escaped and slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away quickly, unwilling to let anyone see it, although nobody was really looking at her. 

The way back to the castle was longer than she realized it would be.  The time she had spent walking with Ben, and before that, by herself, must have gotten melded together in her mind as a much shorter trip than in actual fact.  Her legs and feet were very sore by the time she came into view of the tall white pillars and the wide paved porch, but she sped up when she saw them, because somehow the castle had become somewhat of a home to her.

It had been a long time since anywhere felt like home - but here, she felt secure, protected, and welcomed.  Even if the outlying city was uncomfortable with her, the castle itself felt as if it was meant for her, that there was a place for her here.

She went up the steps slowly, lifting up her full skirt so that she would not trip on it.  What a strange day - she had really not met anyone except for Ben, and even though he had seemed really nice at first, he turned out to be... prejudiced, somehow.  Or maybe he was just superstitious. 

Ava turned to look at the city before she went inside; it was late afternoon, and the residents were still going about their daily business.  Nothing looked different than it had before, but something was not the same.  She knew more now than she had, but all that knowledge did was open up more questions. 

She sighed, and went inside through the door that a servant was quietly holding open for her.  What she wanted now was a private place to either scream, or cry, or nap.